McKinney ISD To Hold First Football Game At New $70 Million Stadium Despite Cracks

Architectural rendering of the McKinney ISD Stadium and Community Event Center in McKinney.

Courtesy of Stantec

The McKinney school district will hold its first game Thursday night at its new $69.9 million football stadium, despite large cracks found in the home and visitor concourses and the lower bowl wall.

Two investigative reports released so far say the cracks are not a life-and-safety concern. A third report hasn't been released yet, but the engineering firm Nelson Forensics has warned the cracks could widen and corrode the reinforcing steel without repair.

Still, that's a less severe problem than neighboring Allen ISD faced a few years ago. The district had to close its new football stadium for 15 months to make $10 million in repairs after cracks indicated the potential for collapse of a suspended concourse.

In McKinney, the new 12,000-seat facility replaces the 7,000-seat Ron Poe Stadium, built in 1962. Voters approved the divisive project in May 2016 as part of a $220 million bond package.

The stadium is one of now several massive — and massively expensive — pigskin palaces across the state. Allen started the trend in 2012 when it opened its $59.6 million, 18,000-seat Eagle Stadium. Last year, the Katy school district opened Legacy Stadium, which seats 12,000 and cost a whopping $72.2 million. In North Texas, Prosper ISD will open a $51 million football stadium in 2019 for another 12,000 fans.